CHAPTER 4
A few days later, Kidd was about to stretch out in Parke’s favorite chair when Parke strolled in. Rubbing the back of his neck and then squeezing it, Kidd recognized the sign of frustration because he had the same habit. In fact, he’d done it minutes earlier.
It had been a grueling week. Kidd was exhausted after hours of morning group interviews, networking luncheons, and evening seminars. His job prospects didn’t seem any better than in Boston. One thing he had to admit, this family really did have connections. Too bad he had burned so many bridges.
“Hey, man. Whatz up?” Parke didn’t wait for his response as he took residence in another recliner. “I’ve come to collect on your offer.”
Kidd froze and frowned. “What did I offer?”
“About Grandma BB.”
His heart sank. Strokes weren’t anything to play with. “Look, man, I’m really sorry she passed away.” Kidd felt like a jerk for giving Parke a hard time on the same day his friend suffered a stroke. Now she was dead.
“Are you kiddin’ me? Grandma BB is very much alive. We made arrangements for her to stay temporarily at Garden Chateau. It’s a skilled nursing and assisted living facility. The director is a friend of mine, and I’m also her financial planner. Hopefully, Grandma BB will be out in no time.
“But the way that woman was swearing at Cheney and me when we had her transferred today, I would say God’s giving her an extended stay in order for her to repent. I was so close—” he used his finger and thumb to demonstrate—“to scooping her up and dumping her in the prayer room until praise and worship filled her mouth.” He exhaled. “She clowned so bad at the nursing facility, we literally had to leave the building before we got put out. Cheney and I were down the hall and we could still hear her carrying on. Slur speech and all. Needless to say, I don’t think our presence is going to aid in her recovery at the moment.
The director of nursing will give us a call when she feels Grandma BB has accepted her diagnosis. The sassy senior has to be willing to become an active participant in her recovery. The nurse cautioned me that could be weeks or a month, depending on Grandma BB’s frame of mind. At this point, she seems agitated at this point because she likes to be in control.”
“She sounds like a character.” Kidd wanted to laugh at his cousin’s embellished description of some old woman.
“To say the least, Mrs. Beatrice Tilley Beacon aka Grandma BB is a spirited personality. She needs almost twenty-four-hour surveillance.”
“I wish there was something I could do,” Kidd stated offhandedly as he stood and was about to step foot in the kitchen. Mrs. Beacon was feisty. Too bad he never met her.
“There is. I have a business proposition. You may not think you need us, but we desperately need you right now.”
He had a bad sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like it. Business propositions were usually meant to take advantage of something or somebody. And he was nobody’s fool.
Available on eBook December 2012. Available in stores January 2012. Thanks for reading.
